Vitamins
Since Thursday 22nd December, I have regularly been taking Vitamin D3 and Vitamin E. So after 2.5 weeks, the skin texture does seem to have improved. Itching has lessened and dry spots havenot been appearing as frequently if at all.
If I can bear a luke warm shower, than the skin is certainly calmer than taking a hot shower......
I know, I know.....if you have been following me, you will say I should know better. After all a hot shower strips away the moisture your skin needs to keep. Discipline has been lacking.
Exercise
Yes - the sweat has again been bothering me. After giving away my water bottles on an expedition, have been drinking about two cups a day, which is hardly drinking. But it feels like my sweat is kicking out whatever garbage I've been eating over Christmas and it does leave me with an itch free night. I have taken 1/2 an antihistamine before sport which does seem to ensure (maybe it might be psychological) I am less itchy when I sweat.
Anyway I've got to do more training. I have a long 135 mile race to prepare for!
Naomi - I will write something for you from my own experience about helping your child cope with eczema on my next post.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Trying to Survive Winter
Summer was really good. Had many days out in the sun in shorts and t-shirts to make the eczema hide away.
I dread the Winter's short days and the heating. The eczema curse has come out of hiding and now sits in my arms, on my neck and behind my neck. Am amazed at the dry spots that continually plague me at the moment. And my naughty fingers seem to find them and scratch them. At times all I long for is a nice ice block room to numb the itching.
So what is different? I have not been taking any vit D or omega oils for such a long time that I think I need to go back on them and see if that helps. Running marathons has been good, for on those days I am warm enough to put on shorts and t-shirts and be bathed in some winter sun. On those days, my skin can return to being calm. Is it the sun or is the sweat?
Hmm perhaps it is both. The sun for vit D to help skin repair and the sweat to help remove the toxins from poor eating habits at times (you'd think I'd learn).
I need to treat myself more like a plant - need to water myself to stay moisturised inside and sun myself to produce vit D to aid skin repair.
Ok I've written it, now to begin taking the suppliments to see if there is any difference. Will let you know in 6 weeks time.
I dread the Winter's short days and the heating. The eczema curse has come out of hiding and now sits in my arms, on my neck and behind my neck. Am amazed at the dry spots that continually plague me at the moment. And my naughty fingers seem to find them and scratch them. At times all I long for is a nice ice block room to numb the itching.
So what is different? I have not been taking any vit D or omega oils for such a long time that I think I need to go back on them and see if that helps. Running marathons has been good, for on those days I am warm enough to put on shorts and t-shirts and be bathed in some winter sun. On those days, my skin can return to being calm. Is it the sun or is the sweat?
Hmm perhaps it is both. The sun for vit D to help skin repair and the sweat to help remove the toxins from poor eating habits at times (you'd think I'd learn).
I need to treat myself more like a plant - need to water myself to stay moisturised inside and sun myself to produce vit D to aid skin repair.
Ok I've written it, now to begin taking the suppliments to see if there is any difference. Will let you know in 6 weeks time.
Friday, 7 October 2011
How to Help Eczema Sufferers
Those that have friends/family/partners (let's call them the "aiders") who suffer from eczema watch the eczema sufferer with concern. Sometimes they slap our hands to stop us from scratching because they want to help. This does not help!
Why We Have Become Apathetic Sufferers
Everyone has a story of someone who has been cured by using some cream, taken some medicine, etc, etc, etc. I have tried Indian remedies, Chinese medicines and loads of Western medicines and I am sure my story has been repeated with many other eczema sufferers. So after a time when a friend, family, partner tells the eczema sufferer "why don't you try xyz remedy" the eczema sufferer can appear stupefied because we have tried so many things and sometimes made the eczema worst. It seems we (eczema sufferers) are like a dog with fleas.....we like a good scratch, but really we have become apathetic. Why? - because we read and are told by doctors that atopic eczema is not curable. The doctors will try to reduce the symptoms so that the skin can have a chance to heal, but it is up to us eczema sufferers to manage the symptoms.
We live in societies now where doctors will look up the medicines they should prescribe to us that will heal us, and the pharmaceutical companies of course need us to be sick in order to keep selling products to us. Okay so I am a little cynical, but I have used so many useless expensive prescriptions that never really relieved the symptoms. So the exceptional eczema sufferer will learn to manage the symptoms so that they are always on top of the problem.
As I told a friend, if you can't be bothered to change your lifestyle and you want to continue using "crap" then expect your skin's well being to continue to suffer. If you really care about your family and friends, then start loving yourself and start a blog or a diary so that you can begin to become aware of what factors are affecting you. The doctor's solutions tend to be short term solutions and I don't know of any chronic eczema sufferer who has been healed by a doctor's prescription.
OK so I've waffled on and you do care about an eczema sufferer. What can you do to help?
STOP NAGGING ME TO STOP SCRATCHING
Personally I dislike people nagging me to stop scratching. It actually made me focus on scratching more. Perhaps this is the voice of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) . Tell a person/child not to do something and they will most likely do the action you've been negative about. If you really want to help the sufferer, give their hands and minds a distraction, such as to help you carry something, to write a letter to someone, try talking about something of interest, hold my hands to pray. Anything, but please do not tell any of us to stop scratching.
GIVE ME A HUG (except make sure you're not wearing a woolly jumper when you do so or wearing strong smelling perfumes)
Yes I like hugs because it often provides a "positive" emotion and it is difficult to scratch when you give a good hug.
GIVE ME ICY COLD THINGS
An eczema sufferer's skin becomes hot as we scratch. The hotter it becomes the more itchy the skin feels and can make us feel like we would like to gouge out our skin....and sadly and regrettable sometimes we do. An ice cold towel helps to relieve the heat a little but please take it away if we begin to use the towel to scratch our skin! Otherwise peas are pretty good.
A CLEAN ROOM WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED
When I've been away my partner vacuums my bed and room, ensuring I have fresh sheets to sleep on and a clean room to walk into. Skin droppings create dust and dust mites get a good feed. Airing sheets out to remove the skin crumbs really does help an eczema sufferer to have a less itchy night.
At the end of the day, if an eczema sufferer really wants a long term solution they need to really want a long term solution and that means as M.J used to sing "If you want to make your world a better a place, take a look at yourself and make a change" (Man in the Mirror)
Good luck aiders :-)
Why We Have Become Apathetic Sufferers
Everyone has a story of someone who has been cured by using some cream, taken some medicine, etc, etc, etc. I have tried Indian remedies, Chinese medicines and loads of Western medicines and I am sure my story has been repeated with many other eczema sufferers. So after a time when a friend, family, partner tells the eczema sufferer "why don't you try xyz remedy" the eczema sufferer can appear stupefied because we have tried so many things and sometimes made the eczema worst. It seems we (eczema sufferers) are like a dog with fleas.....we like a good scratch, but really we have become apathetic. Why? - because we read and are told by doctors that atopic eczema is not curable. The doctors will try to reduce the symptoms so that the skin can have a chance to heal, but it is up to us eczema sufferers to manage the symptoms.
We live in societies now where doctors will look up the medicines they should prescribe to us that will heal us, and the pharmaceutical companies of course need us to be sick in order to keep selling products to us. Okay so I am a little cynical, but I have used so many useless expensive prescriptions that never really relieved the symptoms. So the exceptional eczema sufferer will learn to manage the symptoms so that they are always on top of the problem.
As I told a friend, if you can't be bothered to change your lifestyle and you want to continue using "crap" then expect your skin's well being to continue to suffer. If you really care about your family and friends, then start loving yourself and start a blog or a diary so that you can begin to become aware of what factors are affecting you. The doctor's solutions tend to be short term solutions and I don't know of any chronic eczema sufferer who has been healed by a doctor's prescription.
OK so I've waffled on and you do care about an eczema sufferer. What can you do to help?
STOP NAGGING ME TO STOP SCRATCHING
Personally I dislike people nagging me to stop scratching. It actually made me focus on scratching more. Perhaps this is the voice of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) . Tell a person/child not to do something and they will most likely do the action you've been negative about. If you really want to help the sufferer, give their hands and minds a distraction, such as to help you carry something, to write a letter to someone, try talking about something of interest, hold my hands to pray. Anything, but please do not tell any of us to stop scratching.
GIVE ME A HUG (except make sure you're not wearing a woolly jumper when you do so or wearing strong smelling perfumes)
Yes I like hugs because it often provides a "positive" emotion and it is difficult to scratch when you give a good hug.
GIVE ME ICY COLD THINGS
An eczema sufferer's skin becomes hot as we scratch. The hotter it becomes the more itchy the skin feels and can make us feel like we would like to gouge out our skin....and sadly and regrettable sometimes we do. An ice cold towel helps to relieve the heat a little but please take it away if we begin to use the towel to scratch our skin! Otherwise peas are pretty good.
A CLEAN ROOM WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED
When I've been away my partner vacuums my bed and room, ensuring I have fresh sheets to sleep on and a clean room to walk into. Skin droppings create dust and dust mites get a good feed. Airing sheets out to remove the skin crumbs really does help an eczema sufferer to have a less itchy night.
At the end of the day, if an eczema sufferer really wants a long term solution they need to really want a long term solution and that means as M.J used to sing "If you want to make your world a better a place, take a look at yourself and make a change" (Man in the Mirror)
Good luck aiders :-)
Moisturising Plan
First of all I want to thank all the commenters and those who have encouraged. It has been a while since I last blogged about my skin. Work and marathons have been ruling my life but am now taking a 2 month break.
I also had a short change of scenery.......and my skin conditions improved. Now I could say that it was the heat, but I think it was also because I rested a whole lot more! (remember the healing hormones that are manufactured when you are in a state of rest).
Moisturising on the Outside
I am no longer using prescribed creams and emollients and instead using shop brands. Don't really want to say what brands they are as what works for me may not necessarily work for you. However I am using the creams that our "older" generation use and have found them better moisturisers (as well as cheaper than my prescribed emollients!). This was quite by accident as I borrowed some moisturing cream from my mother and my skin loved it!
Moisturising on the Inside
I am doing my best to drink at least 1 litre of water a day. I find it hard as I hate the urgency of having to continually go to toilet. But my body needs to get used to taking in more water so that it can moisturise on the inside.
...And so onwards to Winter
Eczema skin is prone to drying out quickly and when I am more relaxed about my moisturising regime, my skin develops dry spots that flare up and then turns into eczema.
My skin is so much better than when I first started this blog, however back working and doing long hours, the itchy cycle haunts me, tries to suck me back into the scratch world. Am relearning that if my skin tingles when I touch it, then I must find something to do to keep my hands occupied. I need to learn to really "want" good skin all the time and not when it begins to return to being itchy, wrinkled and scaly. I need to be proactive and to anticipate that the Winter season is coming into town and thus need to care for my skin's moisturising needs even more than in Summer.
Now to keep my moisturising in check both inside and out!
I also had a short change of scenery.......and my skin conditions improved. Now I could say that it was the heat, but I think it was also because I rested a whole lot more! (remember the healing hormones that are manufactured when you are in a state of rest).
Moisturising on the Outside
I am no longer using prescribed creams and emollients and instead using shop brands. Don't really want to say what brands they are as what works for me may not necessarily work for you. However I am using the creams that our "older" generation use and have found them better moisturisers (as well as cheaper than my prescribed emollients!). This was quite by accident as I borrowed some moisturing cream from my mother and my skin loved it!
Moisturising on the Inside
I am doing my best to drink at least 1 litre of water a day. I find it hard as I hate the urgency of having to continually go to toilet. But my body needs to get used to taking in more water so that it can moisturise on the inside.
...And so onwards to Winter
Eczema skin is prone to drying out quickly and when I am more relaxed about my moisturising regime, my skin develops dry spots that flare up and then turns into eczema.
My skin is so much better than when I first started this blog, however back working and doing long hours, the itchy cycle haunts me, tries to suck me back into the scratch world. Am relearning that if my skin tingles when I touch it, then I must find something to do to keep my hands occupied. I need to learn to really "want" good skin all the time and not when it begins to return to being itchy, wrinkled and scaly. I need to be proactive and to anticipate that the Winter season is coming into town and thus need to care for my skin's moisturising needs even more than in Summer.
Now to keep my moisturising in check both inside and out!
Friday, 24 June 2011
Creeping Back In
Life is continuous and ever changing and I am not always going to have good sleep :-(
So some months ago, the vulnerable parts of the skin became a little itchy (the normal eczema parts - inside elbow, inside knee and knee) and so I scratched a little.
When I was tired, had work to do
When I was tired, had to drive to somewhere
When I was tired, had to get over jetlag
When I was tired, had distractions - like the phone rang
And when tiredness hit thought I'd just have a quick sneeky scratch.
Of course it would only be for a short time, so I would fool myself.
But really when one is tired a short time is a long enough time to begin the damage
And really I should just go to bed.
Now some months on, I got back into bad "going to bed" habits and skin has got worst.
Have to go to bed before midnight so that early mornings feel better and skin will feel rested.
Guess that is the same for all you readers ;-)
Good night
So some months ago, the vulnerable parts of the skin became a little itchy (the normal eczema parts - inside elbow, inside knee and knee) and so I scratched a little.
When I was tired, had work to do
When I was tired, had to drive to somewhere
When I was tired, had to get over jetlag
When I was tired, had distractions - like the phone rang
And when tiredness hit thought I'd just have a quick sneeky scratch.
Of course it would only be for a short time, so I would fool myself.
But really when one is tired a short time is a long enough time to begin the damage
And really I should just go to bed.
Now some months on, I got back into bad "going to bed" habits and skin has got worst.
Have to go to bed before midnight so that early mornings feel better and skin will feel rested.
Guess that is the same for all you readers ;-)
Good night
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Controlling Eczema So the Skin Heals
I'm not sure why people keep asking me how to control the itch at night unless what I am writing is not clear.
3 years ago 90% of my body was covered in eczema. I tried a book about controlling eczema by keeping hands occupied, using a counter and using steroid creams (think it is called the Eczema Solution). Found it never worked for me due to the intensity of the itching and the length of time for the itching to pass. Instead I got tired hands from clicking the stupid counter so much and then after 1/2 an hour of clicking, I had a good long scratch!
I threw the book away and went on a journey of self discovery. Today I have a little insignificant eczema (down to about 1-2%) but it is all under control. There are environmental factors that we need to do detective work to understand what is promoting the itch but there are also factors that are overlooked such as the following.
Some things I learned:
1. If say an hour after applying your prescribed moisturising cream/emollient you are itchy, find another emollient. I found having stopped using mine (ran out and the pharmacy didn't have any more) and using something else the itching was not so intense. My creams/emollient never caused my skin to itch immediately and I always thought it was because of the hard water area that am in that caused the itchiness. I was wrong! This has to be sorted first (assuming you already have a nearly dust free environment)
2. When the skin has been badly damaged - continually and constantly moisturise. At one point during the day, this was every 15-30 mins and every time I woke up at night (about 4-5 times from scratching). You will be able to reduce the moisturising when the skin returns to a better condition. I now moisturise with a regular cosmetic cream 2 times a day.
3. Sleep is REALLY important. 2 hormones are manufactured and released into our bodies when our bodies are in a state of rest that help infections and skin damage to heal. I used to sleep on average between 4-6 hours. I now get a more regular 8 hour beauty sleep most of the time. My skin feels rested when I have had a good sleep. I used to knock myself out with antihistamines as well as daily shake out and vacuum all bedding and surrounds to stop those nasty dust mites infesting my bed. I have reduced the "room cleaning" to about 3 times a week and still daily sun out my bedding. Click here to see my research on the sleep hormones.
4. Drink more water. I used to survive on a 2-3 mugs of water a day. I now drink at least a litre and also drink a little more before playing sport. My sweat rarely causes me to itch anymore when playing sport.
5. Sunlight has helped my skin to heal from the scratch damage but so has taking a small dosage of vit D3 thru winter. This is not any vit D. D3 is the vitamin that is produced when our skins are exposed to sunlight and again is used in cell repair. However beware about over dosing on vit D. The best for me is going out for a run and getting some natural rays.
Timings:
- time it took me to begin feeling less itchy results - days that turned into weeks
- time it took my skin to feel smooth - 1-2 months
- time it took my skin to look normal - 4-5 months
Conclusion:
Sorting moisturisers/sleep/water hydration are the top 3 changes that I would recommend to everyone who suffers from Eczema. After that environmental factors and any food sensitivities will become more obvious and anything you thought was causing it may have just been coincidental.
We can't rid our bodies of eczema and I do get symptoms appearing every now and then but I now know with certainty that we can control the source of it. The only thing that the docs can help you with are the symptoms but these are NOT long term solutions. If you do not sort out what is causing you to itch, be warned that the doctors' solutions are just temporary.
Hope this helps someone here because my skin is so much more normal than it has been for nearly 30 years of my life and you don't have to read my book to get it sorted! err no I have not written a book - just a blog :-).
3 years ago 90% of my body was covered in eczema. I tried a book about controlling eczema by keeping hands occupied, using a counter and using steroid creams (think it is called the Eczema Solution). Found it never worked for me due to the intensity of the itching and the length of time for the itching to pass. Instead I got tired hands from clicking the stupid counter so much and then after 1/2 an hour of clicking, I had a good long scratch!
I threw the book away and went on a journey of self discovery. Today I have a little insignificant eczema (down to about 1-2%) but it is all under control. There are environmental factors that we need to do detective work to understand what is promoting the itch but there are also factors that are overlooked such as the following.
Some things I learned:
1. If say an hour after applying your prescribed moisturising cream/emollient you are itchy, find another emollient. I found having stopped using mine (ran out and the pharmacy didn't have any more) and using something else the itching was not so intense. My creams/emollient never caused my skin to itch immediately and I always thought it was because of the hard water area that am in that caused the itchiness. I was wrong! This has to be sorted first (assuming you already have a nearly dust free environment)
2. When the skin has been badly damaged - continually and constantly moisturise. At one point during the day, this was every 15-30 mins and every time I woke up at night (about 4-5 times from scratching). You will be able to reduce the moisturising when the skin returns to a better condition. I now moisturise with a regular cosmetic cream 2 times a day.
3. Sleep is REALLY important. 2 hormones are manufactured and released into our bodies when our bodies are in a state of rest that help infections and skin damage to heal. I used to sleep on average between 4-6 hours. I now get a more regular 8 hour beauty sleep most of the time. My skin feels rested when I have had a good sleep. I used to knock myself out with antihistamines as well as daily shake out and vacuum all bedding and surrounds to stop those nasty dust mites infesting my bed. I have reduced the "room cleaning" to about 3 times a week and still daily sun out my bedding. Click here to see my research on the sleep hormones.
4. Drink more water. I used to survive on a 2-3 mugs of water a day. I now drink at least a litre and also drink a little more before playing sport. My sweat rarely causes me to itch anymore when playing sport.
5. Sunlight has helped my skin to heal from the scratch damage but so has taking a small dosage of vit D3 thru winter. This is not any vit D. D3 is the vitamin that is produced when our skins are exposed to sunlight and again is used in cell repair. However beware about over dosing on vit D. The best for me is going out for a run and getting some natural rays.
Timings:
- time it took me to begin feeling less itchy results - days that turned into weeks
- time it took my skin to feel smooth - 1-2 months
- time it took my skin to look normal - 4-5 months
Conclusion:
Sorting moisturisers/sleep/water hydration are the top 3 changes that I would recommend to everyone who suffers from Eczema. After that environmental factors and any food sensitivities will become more obvious and anything you thought was causing it may have just been coincidental.
We can't rid our bodies of eczema and I do get symptoms appearing every now and then but I now know with certainty that we can control the source of it. The only thing that the docs can help you with are the symptoms but these are NOT long term solutions. If you do not sort out what is causing you to itch, be warned that the doctors' solutions are just temporary.
Hope this helps someone here because my skin is so much more normal than it has been for nearly 30 years of my life and you don't have to read my book to get it sorted! err no I have not written a book - just a blog :-).
Sensitive to Having Prolonged Wet Skin
I did a marathon and the weather was awful that day. It drizzled, rained, splattered down the whole day.
I thought since my skin was pretty good it would be resilient. It was not and after an hour of water chucking down on me, the prolonged damp skin began to itch.
I thought it would subside, so I ignored it. After 5 miles (about an hour) the nagging slowly intensifying itch was too much for me to ignore and soon I began to rub the skin. Yep, I was soon scratching the skin.
After another hour I decided to put a rain coat on and dry my skin with a spare pair of dry cotton trousers I had in my backpack I was running with. I also wrapped my arms in the trousers.
This seemed to have a soothing effect. With my arms covered and my neck and body now staying drier, the itching could lessen and I could therefore control the scratching temptation.
Unfortunately I was a little slow to have done anything about the scratch damage I did on the inner part of my elbows and neck. I was raw and sore after.
2 weeks later the skin has looked a little better. My inner elbows, historically arms being the worst hit with eczema will take a little longer to get back to normal but they are certainly recovering.
I thought since my skin was pretty good it would be resilient. It was not and after an hour of water chucking down on me, the prolonged damp skin began to itch.
I thought it would subside, so I ignored it. After 5 miles (about an hour) the nagging slowly intensifying itch was too much for me to ignore and soon I began to rub the skin. Yep, I was soon scratching the skin.
After another hour I decided to put a rain coat on and dry my skin with a spare pair of dry cotton trousers I had in my backpack I was running with. I also wrapped my arms in the trousers.
This seemed to have a soothing effect. With my arms covered and my neck and body now staying drier, the itching could lessen and I could therefore control the scratching temptation.
Unfortunately I was a little slow to have done anything about the scratch damage I did on the inner part of my elbows and neck. I was raw and sore after.
2 weeks later the skin has looked a little better. My inner elbows, historically arms being the worst hit with eczema will take a little longer to get back to normal but they are certainly recovering.
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